The European Union has come under heavy pressure from the international community over its reported  reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia following the downing of the Malaysia Airlines MH17.

Political analysts said that if the member-countries in the European Union fail to issue a strong response if pieces of evidence point to pro-Russia rebels as the perpetrators of the plane crash, it will damage Europe's reputation internationally. Observers said EU will be perceived in the international community as "weak" and "ineffectual."

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Sarah Lain, an expert on Russian affairs, said that some countries have warm relations with Russia and are afraid that imposing sanctions will affect its heavy trade relations with Moscow.. Reports said Russia merely got a slap on the wrist from its "friendly neighbors" despite being accused of orchestrating the plane crash.

Germany, Italy, Spain, and France have been criticized for refusing to join the United States and the EU in imposing stiffer sanctions on Moscow and have even struck numerous economic  trade deals with Russia.

Italy, which is very close to Moscow, has resisted imposing stiffer penalties. Germany, EU's biggest economy, has lobbied before the government not to adopt sanctions on Moscow.  France went on to strike a $1.6 billion deal to sell Russia  two advanced warships

Business leaders in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, have lobbied the German government not to adopt tougher sanctions against  Moscow. Some European nations are heavily dependent on Russian gas.

Analysts further explained  that if evidence point to the Russian military or pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine as the forces behind the downing of  the jetliner, member-countries will have a hard time campaigning against adopting more punitive measures against Moscow.

Lain said that there have been no real repercussions slapped by the EU against Moscow when it annexed Crimea except for the sanctions imposed by the United States. She said that all these will change and the pressure for the EU to impose stiffer sanctions on Russia will go up significantly after the plane crash

Lain added that imposing sanctions on Russia is a complex issue in that the individual member-country has a high stake at its business dealings with Russia.

Earlier this year, EU joined the United States in imposing sanctions on Moscow after its annexation of Crimea but so far, only the US have gone further in its sanctions while the EU  struggled to take a tough stance because of its member-countries' trade relations with Russia.

TagsSanctions, sanctions against Russia